Years ago, social media was just viewed as fun. It was used for chatting, keeping in touch with old friends, and finding new ones. It was also one of the online means to express yourself. But nowadays, it’s a critical part of every aspect of your life. And in many ways, social media can be used for work. 

It’s no longer just websites and apps where you post your pictures, share your favourite songs, or enjoy some funny videos. Nowadays, social media is a powerful tool that can help you expand your professional network, find a new gig, or build your business from zero. Every business has a presence on social media, as it allows to:

  • find prospective customers;
  • enhance engagement of existing customers;
  • discover new trends and ideas;
  • bring or enhance attention to their product;
  • bring more traffic to their site.

Okay, that’s for businesses, but it’s also crucial for job search. Everyone needs a great resume to become an applicant. Create it on your own or seek professional help from services like ResumeService24 to craft a perfect resume for the job seekers that will surely attract recruiters. But your social media page can come in handy in your career opportunities. 

How You Can Benefit From Social Media 

Many things depend on the career field or the position you would like to occupy, but social media can really help you on the job market. You might have heard various success stories of singers getting noticed by labels after posting their songs on MySpace or people becoming successful bloggers starting from simple posts on Facebook. But social networks can help you on a smaller scale.

While not every company you apply to will check your social media, according to a CareerBuilder survey, at least one-third of employers look through their candidates’ social media. And while your professional experience and key skills will have the final say, your social media activity also impacts the employer’s decision. 

Your Facebook or Twitter account profile can give an employer a different look at you. Moreover, it can display certain qualities that don’t belong on a resume. Your online profile showcases your personality, sense of humour, and other valuable features. And it plays an important role for recruiters to decide whether you are a cultural fit for the company or not. 

While your profile may not present you as a saint, it may still display you as an interesting person. Based on what you like and share, a hiring manager may decide if your prospective colleagues will or will not enjoy working with you. So, don’t shy away from displaying your positive qualities on social media. 

If you are a sports fan, display your interest by posting and sharing sports-related things. If you enjoy cooking, don’t shy away from posting pictures of dishes you’ve cooked. You can also post politically correct jokes, as well as your own thoughts on this or that event. But express thoughts, not emotional responses, as you need to display your critical thinking. 

Things to Avoid Doing on Social Media

Just as social media can motivate the company to employ you, it can make your prospective employer decide against accepting your application. Thus, you should remember several things not to do on social media if you don’t want to risk your prospective employment. 

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is generally unacceptable, especially when it comes to your profession. Posts that express malice or use derogatory terms towards anyone will harm your present career and your employment potential. It would help if you were also careful with how you comment on things. 

While it is unlikely that recruiters will go that far checking your background, if they do and learn that you often use profanities towards people you disagree with, your chances of getting a position you want will decrease, regardless of your qualification. You won’t be considered a cultural fit for the company if you can’t control yourself online. 

Photos With Alcohol

If you are an avid partygoer and prefer posting pictures with your friends getting drunk, you are unlikely to be hired. While those pictures don’t necessarily scream that you have problems with alcohol, someone suffering from hangovers frequently is unlikely to become an employee of the month. 

Not that you should quit your alcohol consumption shenanigans with friends. But it would help if you thought twice before proudly posting it online. After all, whatever you post online may have a lasting effect on your life in general and on your career opportunities in particular. 

Nude Pictures

Some companies indeed seek applicants who are self-confident. But if your confidence is displayed by posting nude pictures on Facebook or Instagram, recruiters may find it too far. Even now, such behaviour may be considered unethical. Aside from failing to land a certain job, you can get reported for pictures like that. After all, there are other sites for nude selfies that are not linked to your professional activities. 

Complaining About Your Past Companies

You surely know that complaining about your past work experiences during the interview for a new position is quite unprofessional. Believe it or not, posts where you complain about your past employers and companies also count. Whether your comments are fair or not, employers will think twice before hiring you. 

Such social media activities signify that if you’ve done it once towards your previous employer, you can do it again towards your new one. Online posts like that can really impact your company’s reputation, and employers rarely want to risk it. So, keep the complaints to yourself. 

Mocking Customers

Everyone loves Karen and “I want to talk to the manager” jokes. Everyone has at least one experience with an obnoxious customer. But mocking the customers online is extremely unprofessional. And it can really hurt your opportunities of landing a job. 

Support consultants constantly run into customers who need help with a certain application but lack computer skills. And you can laugh about it with your colleagues, but an online post mocking that type of customer can lead to not getting a new job. Complaining about customers is showing your company in a bad light. And that’s again risking its reputation. If you want to start your career only from scratch, you should use LinkedIn resume service to land a dream job. 

How to Prevent Social Media From Hurting Your Career?

So, no nudes, no wild parties, and no jokes about your job on social media? Don’t worry; you don’t need to have a separate account. Most social networks have privacy settings. So, if you want to share the artefact of your night out, adjust the settings so it will be shared only with your friends. 

If you have an OnlyFans account that you want to promote on your Instagram account story, share it with your close friends’ circle so none of your colleagues will see that. The same goes with mocking customers. But mind that privacy settings don’t give a 100% guarantee that it won’t be seen by those who shouldn’t see it. You cannot hide on social media. 

Final Thoughts

If you want to get hired for your dream job, you should be careful with what you post online. You need to create a professional image that corresponds to your skills and experience. And if you know what to post and what not to post, your chances of having a perfect online profile for the recruiters are quite high.